THE MELODRAMA
jeffn:
"Leri is life, and life is melodrama, the highs and lows of our dear list members is the stuff soap opera's are made from."Annie:
"Outrageous fights, couched as debates, with dramatic storming out of "rooms" and heartfelt apologies.....over matters of principle."Mike Gourlay:
"If there's one thing I would pass on with urgency, it's the idea that, since melodrama is inevitable, people ought to be careful because their own conceptions of what's going on are the most dangerous things that affect them."Scotto:
"Here comes the flood, indeed, and we wouldn't have it any other way, no? Kicking and screaming our way into the next iteration, making sure every possible base was covered, every argument argued, every offense made and every apology taken, every insult thrown and every ego bruised, every suspicion aired and every plaintive call for help attended to as best as we possibly can..."Spigot:
"There seems to be, among some people, a desire to experience everything as intensely as possible. The word ‘melodrama’, within Leri, seems to have this flavor."Scotto:
"We also discussed the nature of the Melodrama, and its function within Leri. Leri itself has no overarching philosophy; it isn't a mindset, it isn't like going to Millbrook and having to have Tim Leary's trip in order to stick around. Rather, Leri is a structure, a network for its members' philosophies. Leri provides a unique place for intense communication and bonding. Adding psychedelics to the mix puts a bizarre spin on this."And so, Jenna suggested that the negative connotations that are attached to melodramatic interactions are perhaps misplaced. She said that perhaps it isn't productive to fight off a certain level of self-importance; she suggested that the intense drama of our interactions is actually appropriate to the nature of this place. I agreed, believed that a certain level of this is useful, for metaprogramming at both the individual and the group level. She said: 'Self-reflection is the engine that makes Leri run.'"
Erica:
"i was too entrenched in it for too long, and now that i'm not it isn't very easy to understand. from my perspective, my own melodrama was the attention-getting replacement for actually fixing my problems. it was making issues of things that didn't have to be issues, because if i could pretend small events were of more importance, i could put off dealing with major things. it was the desire to make people as uncertain and uncomfortable as i was. it was the fear of asking for help."Crazy Fingers:
"Metaprogramming deals with the rawest forces in your own mind, and when they are unleashed and accelerated, anything from soap opera and third grade tantrums to complex emotional developments as couples are made and broken and re-made and we all dance together."Scotto:
"Hurtful feelings stemming from the melodrama are quite often related to a negative undercurrent that tells some of us, 'This is wrong. People don't behave this way.' Well, maybe irl they don't, but here, we always have; it's coded in on many levels. If we even hypothetically entertain the notion that the memetic attractor of Leri has its own pov, then perhaps we can entertain the notion that that pov plays out very dramatically when Leri's members come together."Nozzle:
"I think that melodrama is a pejorative word -- a marker for a false, over the top form of drama. I think that in the lives of leris there occurs a great deal that is dramatic and passionate, and that to call it melodrama implies a sarcastic farce. This is not to say that this is not an attitude that some members of leri use to look at each other... Even though I am a fairly cyncial shit, I recognize when people are sincerely trying to better their lives and their selves. That engages my respect and my sympathy. I would say that leri is fundamentally dynamic, not melodramatic."Crazy Fingers:
"Incidentally, it seems that until one gets firmly ensconsed in the Melodrama, one will feel somewhat like an Outsider to Leri. But once this happens, once you find love or make a close friend, or whatever it takes to draw you into the confusing and everchanging game structure of the emotional side of Leri, you may feel more a part of Leri than you ever wanted to be. Good luck. ;-)"